Artist Seamus McGuiness & Psychiatrist Kevin Malone collaborate

When McGuinness shared a photograph of his work with UCD professor of psychiatry Kevin Malone, who has worked in suicide research for 20 years, their worlds of art and medicine collided.

“We were both addressing the area of youth suicide and trying to understand it,” says Malone. “We both thought the statistics could only tell us so much.”

Malone was about to embark on his Suicide in Ireland survey, interviewing families of those aged under 35 who had died by suicide. Collaborating with McGuinness was an opportunity to get behind the statistics.

“I was using the language of art and Kevin was using the language of medicine,” says McGuinness. “We decided to combine methodologies to see if we could find a new language to articulate the presence of suicide in Ireland.” (Times) >>>